I really haven’t seen anyone log their experiences with this particular challenge, so I’m going to start it up.
This challenge comes on the heels of a 12 week basic strength cycle. I’m excited to push myself in a way in which I haven’t since I was in my early 20’s. I’m 35 now.
With what I’ve got going on in my life right now (6 month old and owning a new business) I’ve decided to dedicate M/W/F to pushing the Prowler. Tuesday’s and Thursday’s I will lift. I know this isn’t how the challenge was laid out, however this is what will work for me.
Lifting is as Follows:
Tuesday:
Squat: 5/3/1
Bench: 5/3/1
Military Press: 5x10
Dips: 5x10
Pulldown Abs: 5x10
Thursday:
Deadlift: 5/3/1
Weighted Pull-ups: 3-5x5
DB Rows: 5x10
Barbell Curls: 5x10
Back Extensions: 5x10
I will be going only for the required reps on lower body work while pushing the upper body assistance work during this time.
Today was Day 3 of week 1 and I feel good. My legs feel solid and I’m ready to get next week going. The prowler work took just under 25 minutes this week. I took my time and I’m allowing myself to adapt to the sprinting. Next week I will bring that time down around 22 minutes or so and then down to 20 or less in week 3. After that the real fun begins!
Feel free to drop suggestions, questions etc as I will try to log 2x per week.
Day 4 Today. Got the work done in just over 22 Minutes. Felt good.
I recruited a buddy of mine to join the challenge. He has a PT Test for the State Troopers coming up in the beginning of May and he’s looking to crush his 1.5 mile time training exclusively with the Prowler.
I’ve got a lift scheduled for tomorrow (squat / bench), then back to the Prowler on Wednesday!
Got today’s work in early. Kept the rest at a constant 2 Minutes for all 10 reps. Felt great even after I squatted yesterday, although legs got heavy for the reps 8,9 and 10.
Got about 7 more sessions before the first big test of the challenge, which is 10x40 w/ 60s rest.
I just started this challenge myself, and just finished up week 1. on average it took about 22min to complete.got another 2 weeks of 10x40 yds to get a better conditioning base,and then the fun starts.
looking forward to your posts and progress.
Week 2 is in the books. All in all a good week. Sleep was not optimal this week do to the little one at home, but that’s life so you push through. That’s why its called a challenge!
I kept my rest constant at 2 minutes for the last two sessions and next week I will work down to 90s. My legs feel good, like they’ve been doing work but not dead.
Looking forward to week 3!
just checking in to see how your progress is going.
hope you’re not dead. j/k
I just finished up week 5 and my legs are beginning to get heavy.I can see why jim has no extra leg work programmed into the challenge.
I have never done this challenge, but I do prowler work and hardest session I did was 10 with 90 walks with a 30 second rest.
I am on week 5 of the Prowler Challenge. I pulled my right calf doing it in week 3. I am persevering though. I can’t run as fast as I want to but I’m still getting the work in.
Week 1, workout 1: I was so out of shape I could only get 6 trips with 90 lbs.
Week 1, workout 2: I became nauseous after 8 trips and stopped.
Week 1, workout 3: I was able to do all 10 trips but my legs were jelly for the entire next day.
Since week 2, I have had no issues with any of the workouts except the calf issue and not being able to run as fast as I want to. I also limited all lower body workouts except the main lift and abs or something similar.
Oh, and my hips feel looser in a good way.
Thank you for everyone that has contributed to this thread (and Jim) for inspiring me to get off my ass and use my prowler.
I’ll just keep this log going with a weekly update.
finished up week 6 and I can feel my conditioning improving.
workout 1 90lbsx40yds 12 reps w/60 sec rest-no problems here
workout 2 140lbsx 40yds 8 reps w 90 sec rest.getting use to pushing the heavier weight and the extra time to rest helped.
workout 3 180lbs x 40yds 6 reps no timed rest period.followed by 4 reps 90lbsx 40yds w 60 sec rest.the first part was rough but my recovery was pretty good.the 2nd part I just smoked it.I could have done it with 30 sec rest.
as far as my 5/3/1 sets all lifts are being met,while getting some extra reps on upper body sets.
week 7
workout 1
90lbsx40yds w/60 sec rest x12.really pushed hard through these.the weight is feeling really lite.
workout 2
140lbsx40ydsw 60 sec rest x6.these were brutal.weight felt heavy after my 3rd rep,but powered through.and then finished up with 90lbsx40yds w/ 60 sec rest.the prowler flu was kicking in.
workout 3
180lbsx40yds w/90 sec x 4 followed by 90lbsx40yds w 60 sec rest 4 reps.my legs were dead after these.
looking forward to my deload week.I’m thinking of doing just 2 lifting sessions to get another day off/recovery.
week 8
workout 1
90lbsx40ydsx12 reps w/60 sec rest
workout 2
140lbsx40ydsx6 w/60 sec rest
90lbsx40 ydsx8 w/60 sec rest
workout 3
180lbsx40ydsx6 w/90 sec rest
90lbsx40ydsx4 w/60 sec rest
week 8 is now in the books.got the work done.
now on to the last part of this challenge.(weeks 9 -12),where the volume goes up a notch.
week 9
workout 1
90lbsx40ydsx15 reps w/60 sec rest
workout 2
140lbsx40ydsx8 reps w/60 sec rest
90lbsx40ydsx6 reps w/60 sec rest
workout 3
180lbsx40ydsx6 reps w/90 sec rest
90lbsx40ydsx6 reps w/60 sec rest
had to double up on some workouts to get this weeks work in(family affairs)
all in all legs are sore,but conditioning continues to improve.
my 1st workout 90 x 40 x 10 took me 23 minutes to finish.
now I’m getting it done in under 16 minutes.
week 10
Embracing the Suck.
workout 1
90lbsx40ydsx15 reps w/60 sec rest
workout 2
140lbsx40ydsx10 reps w 60 sec rest
had to do this after my squat workout.
the suck was in full effect.
workout 3
180lbsx40ydsx6 reps w/90 sec rest
140lbsx40 ydsx4 reps w/ 60 sec rest
final 2 weeks of this challenge are left.
time to finish strong.
week 11
had to deal with the heat this week.90 degrees on blacktop just made this challenge more tough.but enough whining.
workout 1
90lbsx40ydsx15 reps w/ 60 sec rest
workout 2
140lbsx40ydsx10reps w/60 sec rest
workout 3
180lbsx40ydsx 8 reps w/90 sec rest
140lbsx40 ydsx4 reps w/60 sec
one more week to go.
looking forward to finishing up this challenge.
week 12
workout 1 and 2
90lbsx40ydsx12 reps w/60 sec rest
workout 3 the conditioning test
180lbsx40ydsx10 reps w/60 sec rest
this was pretty rough after the 5th set.the sprints turned into walks,but after 12 weeks of this shit I grinded through.
challenge completed.
I’d like to thank Jim…there were many days that I thought about skipping a prowler session or cutting the reps short,but I kept remembering his quote in the prowler challenge.
“you will have some bad days.suck it up and move forward.expect greatness”
and while I may not have achieved greatness.I can honestly say at 45 years old I’m in the best overall shape in my life.